Worst Restaurant Meals, Part 1

I am a fairly easy person to pick out in a restaurant. I am the one sitting across from the man who is in distress. His head will be in his hands, and he will be massaging his temples with his fingertips. The man is my husband. He has explained this ritual as a device to maintain his sanity while I ask the waiter a few questions. We have different perspectives regarding how many questions are a few.

It is true that I ask a number of questions before placing my order. To my husband’s silent horror, this will not be changing anytime soon. It is important to me that the food I eat not garner a free pass to the emergency room somewhere down the road. Some of the questions I ask are: Does my meal contain any grains? Is my meal gluten free? Is anything in my meal that is fried? Can I substitute vegetables for rice/pasta/potatoes? How is my meal prepared? Can you describe the entrée to me? Is there any red meat in the dish?

That about covers the length of my inquiry, and really, take it easy honey. It’s not that bad. There are some meals out there that are pretty questionable.

Worst Restaurant Meals

They probably taste pretty good, and there is no doubt that customers order them and gobble them down. Demand fuels supply, so as long as people keep asking, restaurants will keep providing. Simple economics. On the other side of the coin, Americans have become obese. Not coincidentally obese or accidentally obese but obese as if by choice. They know what they are ordering.

Whereas the average American eats out more than four times per week, a little insight might be useful. After all, we have become the most obese country on the planet.

To Name Just A Few of the Worst Restaurant Meals:

Cheesecake Factory French Toast With Bacon - Breakfast is recognized as the most important meal of the day, and if you think it is important to consume 71g of saturated fat, 3,542 mg of sodium, 182g of carbohydrates, and more than 2,400 calories first thing in the morning, then you might want to begin your day with this Cheesecake Factory breakfast offering.

Sbarro Stuffed Pepperoni Pizza - A 960 calorie pizza you say? Sign me up. The problem here is that the 960 calories has been packed into a single slice. Add to that 42 g of fat per slice and 3,200 mg of sodium per slice and you have the wedge of pizza that has more calories, fat, and sodium per slice than any other in America.

Cheesecake Factory Bistro Shrimp Pasta - The Cheesecake Factory makes it second appearance with this 2,727 calorie, 78g of saturated fat, 919 mg of sodium dish. Consuming this platter is equivalent to eating three full sticks of butter.

Claim Jumpers Beef Back Ribs - If you are one of those who are overwhelmed by sheer numbers, Claim Jumpers Beef Back Ribs are for you. Rolling in at 4,301 calories, 156g of saturated fat and almost four times the recommended daily salt intake at 7,623 mg sodium, Claim Jumpers Beef Back Ribs is the going over Niagara Falls in a barrel type meal geared for the fearless eater.

To put all this in perspective, the FDA recommends adults consume around 2,000 calories a day, including no more than 2,300 mg of salt and 20g of saturated fat. And if you are on a restricted diet, such as low calorie, low sodium, or low fat, then your recommended daily allowances will be less than this. The calories counts in some of the meals listed above could sustain a bariatric patient for two or three days, or more.